Clocks · Clock
Clock by R. Fletcher, Chester, c. 1810
- Maker / attribution
- R. Fletcher (maker)
- Date
- c. 1810
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Place
- Chester
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 104 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 255
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 255)
- Catalogue title (original)
- R. FLETCHER, CHESTER. A GOOD LATE GEORGE III PERIOD MAHOGANY TAVERN TIMEPIECE. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 255), this is a clock by R. Fletcher, made in Chester, United Kingdom, dated c. 1810. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 104 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A very elegant George III period tavern timepiece by this Chester maker. It has an 18-inch flat painted iron dial which is set behind a glass door with a concave brass surround. The pierced blued steel hands appear to be original, the delicate minute hand terminating in a demi-lune counterpoise. The single fusee weight-driven brass plated movement with anchor escapement runs for a week. The well patinated mahogany case has a full length trunk door in highly figured mahogany. This clock is unusual in a number of ways. Firstly, it is a very early example of an iron painted white dial tavern clock. Secondly, it is very rare for mahogany tavern clocks to have a glazed door to protect the dial and hands, both of which have survived intact in this piece. Height : 41 in (104 cm) Width : 21 ½ in (54.5 cm) Depth : 8 ⅜ in (21.25 cm) * R. Fletcher is listed on page 270 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of the World: 21st Century Edition. HW5881 Signed / Inscribed R. Fletcher Chester.
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Verge escapementFoliot
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